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The Value Factor

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The Value Factor

How Global Leaders Use Information for Growth and Competitive Advantage

Bloomberg Press,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

To make money from your information, first centralize your data to help your company attain visionary "unified truth.

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

This book is like a clear lamp knifing through the fog of business, saying that what really matters is developing one clear unified concept of your business, declaring who you are and what you do. The key to achieving this "unified truth" is information. Most companies stack information in silos represented by business units, so one part of the company doesn’t know what the other parts are doing. Authors Mark Hurd and Lars Nyberg of the NCR global information technology firm make a cogent case that the key to overcoming this shortcoming is to take information out of scattered departments and develop centralized storage facilities for its collection, processing and retrieval. Armed with this base, this "unified truth," employees can become more customer-centric. One caveat, however, is that single view companies face the danger of tunnel vision. Sometimes companies need internal, competing views to be sure they consider the correct perspective. Although this book is an NCR public relations effort, it sets out a key point: if your firm isn’t making information its top priority, you’re could be falling behind the curve. getAbstract highly recommends this book to leaders and future leaders.

Summary

The Information Onslaught

Some observers say the problem with information is that there is too much of it. Consider all the information that a company gathers during the course of a single day. First, there is accounting and financial data, that is, accounts receivable, accounts payable, accounts paid and the effective management of cash flow, a science unto itself. Then there's the influx of customer information, including their likes and dislikes. Market data often indicate what the company must do to achieve its sales goals. The other forms of data that comprise this information tsunami sweeping over the modern corporation include software updates and revisions, inventory data, call center data, shareholder communications, industry-relevant news and trends, competitive intelligence, partner-provided information, purchasing department data, and on and on.

Each day, the modern corporation must adjust to this onrushing wave of information, while bracing for the next day's activities and the next "perfect storm" of data already headed its way. How can you respond effectively to this surging, growing information flood? Can your company afford to downplay the way it handles...

About the Authors

President and CEO of NCR Corporation, a global technology company, Mark Hurd helps NCR provide "relationship technology" solutions. This system is designed to maximize the value of the company’s interactions with its customers. Lars Nyberg is the chairman of the board of NCR Corporation. He served as CEO from 1995 to early 2003, leading NCR’s transformation from a hardware manufacturer to a technology solutions provider.

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